Gigantic titanosaur was largest dinosaur to ever live

BY
JEREMY MORROW
| PUBLISHED:
08-11-2017

In 2013, a shepherd in the Argentinian desert stumbled on an enormous fossil bone sticking out of a rock. When experts examined the find, they discovered the remains belonged to what was the biggest dinosaur ever unearthed.

In 2013, a shepherd in the Argentinian desert stumbled on an enormous fossil bone sticking out of a rock. When experts examined the find, they discovered the remains belonged to what was the biggest dinosaur ever unearthed.

Now, the humongous creature 121 feet long, 46 feet tall, and weighing 70 tons has an official name, Patagotitan mayorum, and is described in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

P. mayorum beats out the previous record-holder for size, Argentinosaurus, by about 10 percent, a report by Newsweek said.

The researchers also showed that P. mayorum belonged to a group of exceptionally large titanosaurs that thrived only in Patagonia during the middle of the Early Cretaceous Period.

"As far as we know and for some reason, giant titanosaurs were present only in Patagonia," said study author Jos Luis Carballida, from the Museum of Paleontolgy Egidio Feruglio in Argentina, in the Newsweek report. "This means that in Patagonia they had the resources and weather for their subsistence. But there are certainly other factors of why this does not happen in other parts of the world, probably related to the intrinsic characteristics of the group."

Titanosaurs were herbivores, so Patagonian weather likely helped grow the particular plants favored by the giant beasts. They probably grew to such a large size to avoid predators, according to Carballida.

As to whether a dinosaur could be any larger than P. mayorum, Carballida said it was possible, but that "probably we are pretty close to the size limit.

In 2013, a shepherd in the Argentinian desert stumbled on an enormous fossil bone sticking out of a rock. When experts examined the find, they discovered the remains belonged to what was the biggest dinosaur ever unearthed.

In 2013, a shepherd in the Argentinian desert stumbled on an enormous fossil bone sticking out of a rock. When experts examined the find, they discovered the remains belonged to what was the biggest dinosaur ever unearthed.

In 2013, a shepherd in the Argentinian desert stumbled on an enormous fossil bone sticking out of a rock. When experts examined the find, they discovered the remains belonged to what was the biggest dinosaur ever unearthed.

In 2013, a shepherd in the Argentinian desert stumbled on an enormous fossil bone sticking out of a rock. When experts examined the find, they discovered the remains belonged to what was the biggest dinosaur ever unearthed.

In 2013, a shepherd in the Argentinian desert stumbled on an enormous fossil bone sticking out of a rock. When experts examined the find, they discovered the remains belonged to what was the biggest dinosaur ever unearthed.

In 2013, a shepherd in the Argentinian desert stumbled on an enormous fossil bone sticking out of a rock. When experts examined the find, they discovered the remains belonged to what was the biggest dinosaur ever unearthed.

In 2013, a shepherd in the Argentinian desert stumbled on an enormous fossil bone sticking out of a rock. When experts examined the find, they discovered the remains belonged to what was the biggest dinosaur ever unearthed.